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MOSCOW/WASHINGTON - The United States has made a formal promise to Russia not to execute or torture Edward Snowden if he is sent home to face charges of illegally disclosing government secrets, and the Kremlin said Russian and US security agencies are in talks over his fate.
The 30-year-old former US spy agency contractor1 has been stuck in the transit2 area of a Moscow airport for more than a month despite Washington's calls to hand him over.
Russia has refused to extradite Snowden, who leaked details of a secret US surveillance programme including phone and Internet data, and is now considering his request for a temporary asylum3.
In a letter dated Tuesday July 23 and released on Friday, US Attorney General Eric Holder4 wrote that he sought to dispel5 claims about what would happen to Snowden if he is sent home.
"Mr Snowden has filed papers seeking temporary asylum in Russia on the grounds that if he were returned to the United States, he would be tortured and would face the death penalty. These claims are entirely6 without merit," Holder wrote.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's FSB and its US counterpart, the FBI, were in talks over Snowden, whose stay at the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport has further strained Moscow-Washington ties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had expressed "strong determination", he said, not to let relations suffer over the dispute "no matter how the situation develops". Putin himself is not personally dealing7 with the problem, the spokesman said.
But he reiterated8 Moscow's stance that Russia "did not hand over, does not hand over and will not hand over anybody".
Putin, a former KGB spy, has said Snowden could only be granted sanctuary9 in Russia if he stopped actions that could harm the United States.
A US law enforcement official following the case confirmed the FBI has been in discussions with the FSB about Snowden for some time now but added he was not aware of any recent breakthroughs or imminent10 developments stemming from that.
A Russian security expert said the talks may be about how to secure a promise from Snowden to stop leaking if he were granted sanctuary in Russia.
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1 contractor | |
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌 | |
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2 transit | |
n.经过,运输;vt.穿越,旋转;vi.越过 | |
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3 asylum | |
n.避难所,庇护所,避难 | |
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4 holder | |
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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5 dispel | |
vt.驱走,驱散,消除 | |
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6 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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7 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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8 reiterated | |
反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9 sanctuary | |
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区 | |
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10 imminent | |
adj.即将发生的,临近的,逼近的 | |
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11 skeptical | |
adj.怀疑的,多疑的 | |
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